Page 18 - Project ALPHA Brochure FINAL 042919

Project
Teach Out of the Box
GROUPING STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING ELLS
Grouping strategies are used to organize ELLs within the classroom in various ways based on the subject area and/or type of task. Thus, teachers are able to address learners’ specific needs and ELLs can take advantage of peers with different proficiency levels in terms of language and content. Students are encouraged to develop leadership skills and take responsibility for their own learning and that of the group.
The main study that Project ALPHA bases work in providing small group instructional intervention to students struggling in literacy and English language development is Denton, C. A., Wexler, J., Vaughn, S., & Bryan, D. (2008). “Intervention provided to linguistically diverse middle school students with severe reading difficulties.” Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 23(2), 79-89.In addition, six studies that met What Works Clearinghouse standards provide evidence for this recommendation and for all but one of the suggested How-to steps. They are Burns, 2011; Denton et al., 2008; Nelson et al., 2011; Ransford- Kaldon et al., 2010; Solari & Gerber, 2008; Vaughn et al., 2006. Interventions tested in these studies focused not only on foundational reading skills but also on vocabulary, listening comprehension, and/or reading comprehension. These six studies resulted in impacts across the domains of pre-reading, reading, vocabulary, and English language development. Across the set of studies, five of the fourteen domain effect sizes were positive, and nine were non-discernible. Given these inconsistent findings, the panel decided on a moderate evidence rating for the recommendation.
• Suggested activities to promote group learning: Use available assessment information to identify students persistently struggling with aspects of language and literacy development. Design small- group instruction to target students’ identified needs. Provide additional instruction in small groups (three to five students) to students struggling with language and literacy. For students struggling with basic foundational reading skills, spend time on vocabulary development and listening and reading comprehension strategies. Provide scaffolded instruction with frequent opportunities for students to practice and review newly learned skills and concepts in various contexts over several lessons to ensure retention.
Resources:
How we use effective strategies for teaching ESL learners https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k79CHlTnGaw ESL Student Support Strategies (ELL, LEP, & Bilingual) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkKa64rLC3o Cooperative Grouping Strategies https://ellstudents.com/blogs/the-confianza-way/cooperative-grouping-strategies
WIDA Focus on Group Work for Content Learning http://stem4els.wceruw.org/resources/WIDA-Focus-on- group- work.pdf
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